vjy ■yli rr\ HS::, A SELECT LIBRARY OP NICENE AND POST-NICENE FATHERS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH WITH PROLEGOMENA AND EXPLANATORY NOTES. VOLUMES I. -VII. UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OP PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LL.D., ^^„ HENRY WAGE, D.D., Professor of Church History in tJie Principal of Kitig's College, Union Theological Seminary, New York. London. IN CONNECTION WITH A NUMBER OF PA TRISTIC SCHOLARS OF EUROPE AND AMERICA. VOLUME X. ST, AMBROSE SELECT WORKS AND LETTERS. NEW YORK : THE CHRISTIAN LITERATURE COMPANY. OXFORD AND LONDON: PARKER & COMPANY. 1896. Copyright, 1896, THE CHRISTIAN LITERATURE COMPANY. SEP 2 5 1963 Z^e> :%TyoFTO^ 860578 6R Go \j,10 SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS OF ST. AMBROSE, TRANSLATED BY THE REV. H. DE ROMESTIN, M.A., Of St. Joint's College, Oxford, and Rector of Tiptree^ Essex, I WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE REV. E. DE ROMESTIN, M.A., 0/ New College, Oxford, THE REV. H. T. F. DUCKWORTH, M.A., Of Merton College, Oxford. CONTENTS. Translator's Preface ix Prolegomena xi DOGMATIC TREATISES, ETHICAL WORKS, AND SERMONS. On the Duties of the Clergy xxiii On the Holy Spirit 91 On the Death of Satyrus 1 59 On the Belief in the Resurrection 174 On the Christian Faith 199 On the Mysteries 315 On Repentance 327 Concerning Virgins 361 Concerning Widows 391 LETTERS. Letter XVII. To Valentinian II 41 1 Memorial of Symmachus 414 Letter XVIII. To Valentinian II., in reply to Symmachus 417 Letter XX. To Marcellina as to the Arian party 422 Letter XXI. To Valentinian II., declining challenge of Auxentius 427 Sermon against Auxentius 430 Letter XXII. To Marcellina on finding the bodies of SS. Gervasius and Protasius 436 Letter XL. To Theodosius as to the burning of a Jewish Synagogue 440 Letter XLI. To Marcellina on the same r 445 Letter LI. To Theodosius after the massacre at Thessalonica 450 Letter LVII. To Eugenius, reproving him 453 Letter LXI. To Theodosius, after his victory over Eugenius 455 Letter LXIL To Theodosius, urging him to be merciful 455 Letter LXIIL To the Church at Vercellae 457 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. Although, according to the plan of this " Library," Commentaries on Holy Scripture are omitted, and the field of selection is thus somewhat lessened, it has been no easy matter to decide which of St. Ambrose's many treatises should be chosen and which omitted. Obviously the great work on the Faith, De Fide, must be included, and this implied the addition of that on the Holy Spirit. Then the treatise on the Duties of the Clergy, as throwing much light on the ideas of the Fourth Century as to what was expected of ecclesiastics, seemed to claim a place. And after these the difficulty becomes very great. It is unfortunate that the limitations of space do not admit of the inclusion of all the dogmatic and ascetic treatises. Similarly, one would have been glad to insert the ad- dresses on the deaths of the two Emperors Valentinian and Theodosius. More, also, of his letters might well have been added, though, as they have appeared in full in the Oxford " Library of the Fathers," this is a matter for less regret. As will be seen, I have availed myself of the assistance of my son, the Rev. E. de Romestin, of New College, and of the Rev. H. T. F. Duckworth, of Merton College, each of whom took high honours in the Theological School at Oxford. The work has been carried out under some difficulties, and not the least has been the loss in travelling of a considerable portion of the manuscript, the whole of which had to be translated anew. ix PROLEGOMENA TO ST. AMBROSE. I. LITERATURE. § I. Editions. All the Editions of the works of St. Ambrose which preceded that of the Benedictines are very inadequate. Of these the chief are the following : 1. Venice, a.d. 1485. 2. Cribellius, a.d. 1490. 3. Auerbach, Basel, a.d. 1492, reprinted in 1506, with a full Index. These are very- faulty Editions. 4. Erasmus, Basel, a.d. 1527, reprinted and re-edited by different persons, in various places [by Baronius amongst others, a.d. 1549]. 5. Gillot Campanus, Paris, a.d. 1568. 6. Felix de Montalto [afterwards Pope Sixtus V.], Rome, a.d. i 580-1 585, reprinted at Paris, A.D. 1603. 7. The Benedictines of St. Maur, Paris, a.d. i 686-1 690, reprinted at Venice, a.d. 1748 and 1 78 1, as well as with additions by Migne, Patres Latini, Vols. XIV.-XVII. 8. A new edition by Ballerini, Milan, a.d. 1875-1886, founded on that of the Benedic- tines, but by no means superior to it. There is still room for a critical edition of the works of this great Father, which are unfortunately very corrupt, but in many points it is not Hkely that the work of the Bene- dictine editors can be improved upon. 9. There are separate editions of some of the treatises of St. Ambrose, as of the Hexaemeron and De Officiis Clericorum, in the Bibliotheca Patrum Eccl. Latinae Selecta, Leipzig, Tauchnitz. The De Officiis has also been edited, with considerable improvements in the text, by Krabinger, Tiibingen, 1857, and the De Fide and De Posnilentia, by Hurter in the Vienna selections from the Fathers. § 2. Translations. There seems to have never been any attempt to translate the works of this great Christian Father and Doctor in full. Some few treatises, De Officiis, De excessu frairis Saiyri, De Virginiiaie, and several other short ones, appear in German, in the select writings of the Fathers, published by Kosel of Kempten. The Epistles have been translated into French by Bonrecueil, Paris, a.d. 1746 ; and the De Officiis and Epistles into English, the former by Humfrey, London, A.D. 1637 ; the latter in the Oxford " Library of the Fathers, " revised by E. Walford, London, 1881 : whilst the De Mysteriis appears in a little volume of Sacramental Treatises, published by Messrs. J. Parker & Co., Oxford, under the supervision of the Editor of this volume. There is a very valuable little monograph entitled Studia Amhrosiana, chiefly critical, and unfortunately brief, by Maximilian Ihm. Leipzig, Teubner, 1889. § 3. Biographies and Authorities for the Life of St. Ambrose. («.) Ancient. Many of his own writings. — Life of St. Ambrose by Paulinus,* a deacon of the Church of Milan. — St. Augustine, Confessions, V. 23, 24; VI. 1-6; IX. 13-16; and many other passages in his writings. — St. Jerome, De Scriptorihus Ecclesiasticis, c. 134. — Rufinus, ^ Paulinus, who had been in constant attendance on St. Ambrose, and was with him at his death, wrote this life a few years after that event, at the request of St. Augustine. xi xii PROLEGOMENA TO ST. AMBROSE. Ecclesiastical History, XL 11,15, 16,18. — Socrates, Eccl. History, IV. 30; V. 11. — Sozome] Eccl. History, VI. 24 ; VII. 13, 25. (b.) Modern. Baronius, Annals, a.d. 397, n. 25-35 ; Life of St. Ambrose in the prolegomena to tl: Roman Edition of his works. — The Life of St. Ambrose gathered from his own writings, i the Benedictine Edition (excellent). — Hermant, Vie de St. Ambroise, Paris, 1678. — Till( mont, Memoires, etc., Tome X. St. Ambroise [pp. 78-386J, and notes, pp. 729-770. — Ceillie Histoire g'enkrale des Auteurs sacres, Tome V. pp. 328 ff. Ed. 2, Paris, i86c. — Dupir Tome ii. pp. 438-515. [This writer says that the text of St. Ambrose is- more corrupt tha that of any other Father. See Alzog, Patrologie, p. 2q6. Ed. i.]^ — Cave, Hist. Lit. Vol. 1 262. — Schoeneman, Bihliotheca historica PP. Lat. 1. 388-419. — Silbert, Leben des heilige Ambrosius, Vienna, 1841 — Baunard, Histoire de St. Ambroise, Paris, 1872 [translated int German, Freiburg, 1873]. — Life of St. Ambrose, by Archdeacon Thornton, London, an other shorter sketches. — Fessler [JungmannJ, Institutiofies Patrologice, I. 655 [also Patrc \ logics of Moehler, Alzog, etc. J. Articles in the Yx€^mx^ Kirchen-Lexikon, the Dictionar \ of Christian Biography, and other encyclopaedias. II. NOTES ON SECULAR AND CHURCH LIISTORY DURING THE LATTER PARI ' OF THE FOURTH CENTURY. After the Council of Nicaea, a.d. 325, the faith of the Catholic Church was established but a considerable time was to elapse, and the tide of heterodoxy was to ebb and flov many times before peace should finally ensue. The ** conversion " of the Emperor Con stantine, though not followed, till he was dying, by baptism, led not merely to th( toleration but to the protection and, as it were, the ** establishment " of the Christiar religion. This very naturally was followed by a large influx of worldliness into th( Church, and bishops began to be time-servers and courtiers. St. Ambrose, however, wai not of this number, but whether in defence of the Catholic faith, of the property of the Church, or, as in his legations to Maximus, for the protection of those in peril or anxiet> who sought his aid, he braved every danger, even that of death itself. During the greater part of the life of St. Ambrose many of those in power, amongsl others the empress mother Justina, were Arians. Julian, though too early to affect the actions of the bishop, apostatized to paganism, which also numbered many supporters oJ high station. On the other hand, the influence of St. Ambrose, exercised ev^n with severe strictness, was all-powerful with Theodosius, known as the emperor who subdued the Arian heresy and abolished the worship of idols in the Roman Empire. The various historical events during the lifetime of St. Ambrose will be found entered under the diff'erent years in the subjoined table ; it remains only here to give some account of his burial-place. St. Ambrose having discovered the bodies of SS. Cosmas and Damian, a.d. 389, placed them under the right side of the altar in his basilica, and desired that he should be himself buried near them to the left, which was done a.d. 397. In the year 835 the Archbishop of Milan, Angilbert IL, caused a large porphyry sarcophagus to be made in which he laid the body of St. Ambrose between the other two under the altar. In 1864 some excava- tions and repairs revealed in situ a magnificent sarcophagus nearly four and a half feet in length, three in width, and nearly two in height, without the covering, placed length- wise. Further excavations brought to view two other tombs, one to the right and one to the left, lined with marble and placed east and west, not as the sarcophagus, north and south. In the one to the left were a few pieces of money, one of Flavins Victor, one of Theodosius, with some fragments of cloth of gold and other things. These were evidently the original resting-places of St. Ambrose and of SS. Cosmas and Damian, and the sarco- phagus that constructed under Lothair, a.d. 835, by Angilbert PROLEGOMENA TO ST. AMBROSE. Xlll III. HISTORICAL SUMMARY AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. A.D, 540- 341- 343- 347- 348. 349- 350. 3SI- 352- 353- 354- 3SS- 356. 357. 359- 361. 362. 363. 364. 366. 367- St. Athanasius restored. Valentinian and Valens Damasus elected in his Birth of St. Ambrose (probably at Treves), youngest son of Ambrose, Prefect of the Gauls. Constantine II. killed at Aquileia. Death of Eusebius. Seventh Council of Antioch. Second exile of St. Athanasius. Photinus begins teaching his heresy. Birth of St. John Chrysostom. Council of Sardica. St. Athanasius restored. Birth of Prudentius the Christian poet. Synod of Sirmium against Photinus. Death of the Emperor Constans. St. Hilary, Bishop of Poi- tiers. Magnentius proclaimed Emperor of the West. Photinus condemned by a semi-Arian synod. Liberius, Pope in succession to Julius. About this date St. Ambrose is taken by his mother to live at Rome, where his sister Marcellina received the veil at the hands of Liberius at Christmas, either a.d. 353, or more probably 354. Suicide of Magnentius the Emperor. Birth of St. Augustine. Death of the Emperor Callus. Liberius the Pope, Dionysius, Bishop of Milan, and Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari, banished by an Arian synod at Milan. Third exile of St. Athanasius. Banishment of St. Hilary of Poitiers. Liberius subscribes (as the Arians say) an Arian Creed, and returns to Rome a.d. 358. Council of Ariminum. Macedonius of Constantinople de- posed. Eudoxius consecrated Bishop. Julian Emperor. Fourth exile of St. Athanasius. Death of the Emperor Julian. Felix Pope. Death of the Emperor Jovian. Emperors. Death of Liberius in September place, but the see is also claimed by Ursinus. Gratian, though only a boy, declared Augustus by his father Valentinian. 368-74. Successful career of St. Ambrose in legal business and as " consular." 370. St. Basil, Bishop of Czesarea. 372. St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Susium. 373. Death of St. Athanasius. 374. Death of Auxentius, the Arian Bishop of Milan, and election of St. Ambrose, though still only a catechumen, by ac- clamation. St. Martin Bishop of Tours. 374-5. St. Ambrose sends a deputation of clerics to St. Basil to ask for the body of St. Dionysius, late Catholic Bishop of Milan. [St. Basil, Ep. 197.] 375. Death of Valentinian in November. His son Valentinian is admitted by Gratian to be Emperor of the East, though only four years old. 377. St. Ambrose writes the three books, De Virginilnis ; one, De Vidtiis ; which is followed by the book, De Vir- ginitate. The first two books, De Fide, written at the request of Gra- tian, who was setting out to the relief of Valens against the Goths. Valens is overcome and killed at Adrianople. Many Christians having been made captives, St. Am- brose sells Church plate to redeem them. Theodosius is proclaimed Augustus. Death of St. Basil and of St. Ephrem Syrus. Gratian, on his way back from Thrace, requests St. Ambrose to come to meet him and receives the first two books of the treatise De Fide, and asks for a further one on the Holy Spirit ; the latter was written two years later. Death of Satyrus, brother of St. Ambrose. The two treatises on his death' written. 379-80. Famine in Rome.— See De Off. III. 46-48. 380. Baptism of Theodosius at Thessalonica. Books III.-V. of the De Fide written about this time. The basilica which had been sequestered by Gratian is restored to the Church. Synod at Rome under Damasus at which St. Ambrose was present. Probably in the same year St. Ambrose conse- crated Anemius Bishop of Sirmium in spite of Arian opposition. Death at Constantinople of Athanaricus, leader of the Goths. The three books, De Spiritu Sancto, written. Death of Peter, Bishop of Alexandria. The CEcumenical Council of Constantinople commences under the presidency of Meletius of Antioch. Also at Aquileia a council, at which St. Ambrose took a leading part, was held against the heretics Palladius and Secundianus. An account is given of the proceedings in Epistles 9-12. St. Ambrose presides over a council of Italian bishops to take into consideration the troubles at Antioch and Con- stantinople. Epistles 13, to Theodosius, and 14, his reply, 378. 379 38a 381 381-2. state the proceedings. Theodosius summoned a council to consider the same matters at Constantinople. 382. Gratian orders the removal of the image of Victory from the forum at Rome. [Ep. 17, 18. J Acholius, Bishop of Thessalonica, dies and is succeeded by Anysius. 383. The Priscillianists endeavour in vain to gain Damasus and St. Ambrose to their side by means of a visit to Rome and Milan. On the 25th of August Gratian is assassinated'at Lyons by the instigation of Maximus. A great dearth at Rome. [De Off. III. 7, 49; Kp. 18. J 383-4. First legation of^St. Ambrose to Maximus on behalf of Justina the Empress and her son Valentinian II. 384. The memorial of Symmachus the prefect of the city to Valen- tinian, requesting the restoration of the Altar of Victory, and the reply of St. Ambrose. [Ep. 17, 18.] A synod at Bordeaux against the Priscillianists. Death of Dama- sus, who is succeeded by Siricius as Pope. 385. Priscillian and his companions are condemned to death at Treves at the instigation of the Spanish Bishops Idacius and Ithacius. The Ithacians consecrate Felix as Bishop. [Ep. 42-51.] The persecution at Milan of Catholics by Justina in Holy Week. [Ep. 20.] The law of Valen- tinian II., granting Arians equal rights with Catholics. Auxentius claims the see of Milan. [Sermon against Auxentius and Ep. 21.] The deposit which a widow had entrusted to the Church at Trent having been carried off by imperial order, St. Ambrose succeeds in procuring its restitution. [De Off. II. 29, 150, 151.] New basilica at Milan consecrated. 386. Finding of the bodies of St. Gervasius and Protasius [Ep. 22]. Epistle 23 to the bishops of the province of .(^Emilia on the right day for the observance of Easter. 386-7. The exposition of the Gospel according to St. Luke written. 387. Baptism of St. Augustine at Milan by St. Ambrose at Easter. Second mission of St. Ambrose to Maximus. [Ep. 24] Expulsion of St. Ambrose from Treves because of his re- fusal to communicate with the murderer of his sovereign. In the later part of the year Maximus crosses into Italy and enters Milan. 388. At Constantinople the Arians destroy the residence of the Catholic Bishop Nectarius. [Ep. 40, § 13.] Death of Justina, and conversion of Valentinian II. by Theodosius. Theodosius marches against Maximus, who is every- where defeated [Ep. 40, § 23I, and executed at Aquileia. Third application concerning the Altar of Victory. 390. The excessive cruelty with which Theodosius punished a sedition at Thessalonica brought on him exclusion from communion, and a severe rebuke at the hands of St. Am- brose. The Emperor's penitence and readmission to communion. A synod is held at Milan against the Ithacian heretics, and Felix, Bishop of Treves. [Ep. 51.] 391-2. The deputation of part of the Roman Senate to Valentinian to request the restoration of the Altar of Victory in the Forum. [Ep. 57, § 5. J The treatise De institutione Virginis, written about this time, as also, De Officiis. 392. Valentinian II. killed at Vienne by Arbogastes [Ep. 53, § 2 ; De ob. Valent. 25 ff.]. His body is brought to Milan. Che pddress, Consolatio de ob. Val. A further delegation from the Senate is sent to Eugenius respecting the Altar of Victory [Ep. 57, f 6 ff.]. On the arrival of Eugenius at Milan St. Ambrose leaves the city for Bononia Faventia and Florence. The letters to Eugenius and Sabinus written about this time. . At Florence St. Ambrose dedicates a basilica, in which he deposits the bodies of the martyrs Vitalis and Agricola, which he had brought from Bononia. His address on this occasion was that which is inscribed, Exhortatio Virginitatis. He writes Ep. 59. Theodosius sets out from Constantinople against Eugenius. About the beginning of August St. Ambrose returns to Milan. Eugenius defeated by Theodosius and slain, Sept. 6. St. Ambrose intercedes and obtains pardon for the followers of Eugenius. After this St. Ambrose writes the Enarrationts on Psalms 35-40 and Ep. 61, 62. Death of Theodosius at Milan. St. Ambrose's oration De obitu Theodosii. Honorius and Arcadius Emperors. St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. Death of Rufinus. Dissensions at Vercells, the occasion of writing Ep. 63, and of a visit to that Church. St. Ambrose consecrates a bishop for Ticinum, and shortly after falls ill. He commenced the Enarratio on Psalm 43, which he left unfinished; and died in the night be- tween Good Friday and Easter Eve, having recom- mended Simplicianus as his successor. 393- 393-4 395- 396. 397- 3tiv PROLEGOMENA TO ST. AMBROSE. IV. ON THE DOCTRINE OF ST. AMBROSE. There is a very complete agreement on the part of St. Ambrose with the Catholic teaching of the universal Church. St. Augustine speaks of him as '*a faithful teacher of the Church, and even at the risk of his life a most strenuous defender of Catholic truth," ' ** whose skill, constancy, labours, and perils, both on account of what he did and what he wrote, the Roman world unhesitatingly proclaims. "=* In matters both of faith and morals by his words and writings he greatly benefited the Church and was called by St. Jerome * ' a pillar of the Church. " ^ In his dogmatic treatises, more particularly in his books on the Faith, he shows great skill and penetration, and his reasoning is full and clear, meeting the most subtle objec- tions with patient industry. Scarcely any ancient writer has treated the mystery of the Holy Trinity and the theological difficulties connected with it more clearly and con- vincingly than St. Ambrose in his De Fide and De Spiritu Saficto. In his expositions of Holy Scripture he treats of the threefold sense, the literal, the moral, and the mystical, devoting more pains, however, and time to the latter than to the former. He gives special consideration to the mystical interpretation of such passages as may seem to contain in a literal sense anything diverging from sound morality. Many of his other mystical interpretations of plain, simple matters of fact have much beauty, as in his treatment of the story of the building of the ark, the marriage of Isaac, and the blessings of the Patriarchs. The literal sense is followed specially in the Hexaemeron, the treatise on Paradise, Noah and the Ark, and the Exposition of the Gospel according to St. Luke. The moral sense, though referred to throughout his writings, is more particularly sought out in the Expositions of the Psalms. St. Ambrose was a diligent student of the Greek writers, whom he often follows largely, especially Origen and Didymus, as also St. Basil the Great and St. Athanasius, and he has also adapted many points of allegorical interpretation from Philo. He is fond of alleging scriptural proofs, and when he argues from reason often confirms his argument by some quotation or reference, a task easy for him who, from his consecration, was so diligent a student of holy Scripture. As to justification, St. Ambrose ascribes the whole work to the Holy Spirit, Who seals us in our hearts, as we receive the outward sign in our bodies. Through the Holy Spirit we receive a share of the grace of adoption. Christ was perfect according to the fulness of His Majesty ; we are perfected by a continual progress in virtue.* With regard to baptism, he taught in accordance with the received belief of his day that it is the sacrament of adoption and regeneration, wherein sin is forgiven, 5 and the Holy Spirit confers new life upon the soul and joins it mystically to Christ. As to the Real Presence in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, his doctrine is no less definite. In his treatise on the Faith he says of the elements that they " are transfigured {transfigurantur\^hy the mystery of the sacred prayer into flesh and blood. "7 He interprets various texts, also, in many places in the same sense. In a like spirit he maintains that the power of forgiving sins on repentance is vested in the ministry of the Church.^ The intercession of the saints, and up to a certain point their invocation, is likewise upheld. 9 There was a Latin version made from the Septuagint, including the Apocrypha, in Africa, and in use there at the end of the second century, very barbarous, and copying even Greek constructions. Of this text SS. Ambrose and Augustine used a recension. But our author seems to have been very independent, and to have made use of several different ver- sions of holy Scripture, translating, as it would seem, often for himself from the Septuagint, referring also to Symmachus, Theodotion, and Aquila, though thinking less of the latter. When the prophets, he says, were moved by the Holy Spirit, they were troubled and darkened with their own ignorance. '° Prayer, he asserts, is necessary for understanding holy Scripture. " Each Testament is not equally easy, and we are not to criticise what 1 Cont.Jul. Pelag. II. 32. 2 Cont.Jul. Pelag. I. 40. ' Adv. Rufin. I. 2. * De Sp. S. I. 79, 80; De Fide, V. 91. ^ « De Poen. I. 36. ^ For the force of the word //• before August, as Gratian came to Milan in that month. 2. To Constantius, a bishop, on episcopal duties, and commending to him the care of the vacant see of Forum Cornelii, or Imola. Probably written about a.d. 379. 3. 4. To Cornelius, Bishop of Comum, the first a friendly letter, the second contain- ing also an invitation to the consecration of a church by Bassianus, Bishop of Laus Pompeia, now Lodi Vecchio, near Milan. Written probably after a.d. 381. 5. 6. To Syagrius, Bishop of Verona. On a charge falsely brought against the Virgin Indicia. They may have been written a.d. 380. xviii PROLEGOMENA TO ST. AMBROSE. not be of one nature and substance. The treatise may be considered as a supplement to that concerning the Faith. 4. De Mysteriis. A valuable treatise on the Mysteries, under which title St. Ambrose includes Baptism, with its complement, Confirmation, and the Eucharist. It is some- what similar to the Calecheses Mystagogicce of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, expounding the doctrine and ceremonies of these sacraments. On doctrinal grounds the authenticity of the work has been impugned by some modern writers, but there is no sufficient founda- tion for their arguments, as the teaching may be paralleled in many other passages of St. Ambrose. The date is not certain, but may be about a.d. 387. 5. Lihri duo de poenitentia. These books on Penitence were written about a.d. 384, against the Novatians. In the first book the writer proves that the power of forgiving sins was left by Christ to His Church. In the second book, insisting on the necessity of repentance and confession, he also refutes the Novatian interpretations of Heb. vi. 4-6 and St. Matt. xii. 31-32. This treatise has also underservedly been questioned on doctrinal grounds by some moderns. These treatises are all translated in this volume. II. EXEGETICAL WoRKS. St. Ambrose was in the habit of explaining various books of holy Scripture in courses of lectures, which he subsequently worked up, often at the request of friends, into treatises in the shape in which they have come down to us. Of the class we have : 1. Hexa'emeron. This treatise, expounding the literal and moral sense of the work of the six days of creation [Gen. i. 1-26], consists of nine addresses to the people of Milan, delivered in the last week of Lent, probably a.d. 389, and is now divided into six books. The writer has studied Origen, but followed rather the teaching of St. Hippolytus and Basil the Great, though he expresses himself often quite in a different sense. 2. De Paradiso. This is the earliest or one of the earliest of the extant writings of St. Ambrose, though the exact date is uncertain. In it he discusses what and where Paradise was, and the question of the life of our first parents there, the temptation, fall and its results, and answers certain cavils of the Gnostics and Manichees. He also enters into an allegorical exposition comparing Paradise with the human soul. 3. De Cain ei Abel. The treatise is now divided into two books, but the division is too inartistic to have been made by the writer. As to the date, it was later than the last treatise, but probably not many months. The interpretations are very mystical, and touch upon moral and dogmatic questions. 4. De Noe et Area. This treatise has reached us in a mutilated condition. It was written probably before iheDe Officiis a.ndDe Abraham, but after the works on Paradise and Cain and Abel, though the exact date cannot be determined. The exposition is literal and allegorical. 5. De Patriarchis. Seven books preached and written at various dates about 387 or 388. The same kind of interpretation is followed in these as in the former treatises. 6. De fuga scBculi Written probably about a.d. 389-390. An instructive treatise setting forth the desirability of avoiding the dangers of the world, and for those who must live in the world, showing how to pass through them most safely. 7. De Elia et jejunio. A treatise composed from addresses delivered during Lent, certainly after a.d. 386, possibly 389. 8. De Tobia. A work quoted by St. Augustine ( C. Jul. Pelag. I. 3, 10), consisting of sermons on the story of Tobias, and chiefly directed against the practice of usury. 9. De Nabuthe Jezraelita. One or two sermons against avarice, probably written about A.D. 395. 10. Libri'iY.de inter pellatione Job et David. The first and third books have Job, the second and fourth David, for their subject, and formed a course of sermons the date of which is uncertain. 11. Apologia prophetcE David ad Theodosium Augustum. A number of addresses de- livered, it would seem, about a.d. 384, quoted also by St. Augustine. 12. Enarrationes in xii. Psalmos Davidicos. Commentaries on Psalms i, 35-40, 43, 45, 47, 48, 61 (according to St. Ambrose's numbering). These seem to have been partly preached, partly dictated at various dates, and much in them is borrowed from St. Basil. 13. Expositio P s a/mt cxviii. This treatise is one of the most carefully worked out of PROLEGOMENA TO ST. AMBROSE. xix all the writings of St. Ambrose and consists of twenty-two addresses to the faithful, each address comprising one division of the Psalm. From various allusions, it would seem that the completed work dates from about a.d. 388. 14. Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam. The ten books of this commentary consist likewise of sermons in which St. Ambrose explained the Gospel during a period of one or two years, in 386 and 387. III. Ethical Writings. Among the ethical or moral writings of St. Ambrose, the first place is deservedly assigned to: 1. De Officiis Ministrorum. In three books, which are translated in this series. 2. De Virginihus. Three books concerning Virgins, addressed to his sister Marcellina in the year i']'], probably, like most of the treatises of St. Ambrose, revised from addresses, the first of which was delivered on the festival of St. Agnes, January 21. This would seem to have been perhaps the very earliest of the writings of St. Ambrose, judging from the open- ing chapter. The treatise is referred to by St. Jerome, St. Augustine, Cassian, and others. 3. De Viduis. This shorter work, concerning Widows, was probably written not very long after the last mentioned treatise. 4. De Virginitate. A treatise on Virginity, the date of which cannot certainly be fixed, but the writing De Viduis is referred to in chapter 9. 5. De Insiiiutione Virginis. A treatise on the training and discipline of a Virgin, addressed to Eusebius, either bishop or a noble of Bologna, after St. Ambrose had admitted his niece to the rank of Virgins, probably about a.d. 391 or 392. 6. Exhortatio Virginitaiis. A commendation of Virginity preached on the occasion of the consecration of a church at Florence by St. Ambrose, a.d. 393 or 394. IV. Sermons and Addresses. 1. Contra Auxentium. A sermon against Auxentius, concerning giving up the basilicas to the Arians, usually inserted between the twenty-first and twenty-second of the letters of St. Ambrose. 2. De Excessufrairis Satyri. The two addresses on the occasion of the death of St. Ambrose's brother Satyrus, translated in this volume. 3. De ohitu Valentiniani Consolalio. The Emperor Valentinian having been murdered by Arbogastes, Count of Vienne, his body was brought to Milan, and remained two months unburied. At last Theodosius sent the necessary rescript, and at the funeral solemnities St. Ambrose delivered the address entitled the "Consolation." 4. De ohitu Theodosil oratio. A discourse delivered forty days after the death of the Emperor Theodosius before the Emperor Honorius at Milan. V. The Letters of St. Ambrose. The Benedictine Editors of St. Ambrose have divided his Epistles into two classes : the first comprising those to which they thought it possible to assign dates ; the second those which afford no data for a conclusion. Probably in many cases the exact year is not so certain as the editors have made it appear, but they seem arranged in a fairly probable con- secutive order. The Letters. 1. To the Emperor Gratian, in reply to his request for a treatise on the Faith. Written a.d. 379, before August, as Gratian came to Milan in that month. 2. To Constantius, a bishop, on episcopal duties, and commending to him the care of the vacant see of Forum CorneHi, or Imola. Probably written about a.d. 379. 3. 4. To Cornelius, Bishop of Comum, the first a friendly letter, the second contain- ing also an invitation to the consecration of a church by Bassianus, Bishop of Laus Pompeia, now Lodi Vecchio, near Milan. Written probably after a.d, 381. 5. 6. To Syagrius, Bishop of Verona. On a charge falsely brought against the Virgin Indicia. They may have been written a.d. 380. XX PROLEGOMENA TO ST. AMBROSE. 7, 8. To Justus, perhaps Bishop of Lyons. On holy Scripture. If the conjecture that Justus was the Bishop of Lyons is correct, written about 380 or 381. 9-12. Letters concerning the Council of Aquileia, held a.d. 381, to the bishops of the provinces of Gaul, to the Emperor Gratian and his colleagues. Two men, Palladius and Secundianus, held Arian opinions, and the former appears to have asked Gratian to con- voke a General Council, pleading that he was unjustly condemned. St. Ambrose pointed out to the Emperor that such a question as the orthodoxy of two persons could be settled by a local council in Italy ; and as a result, by the Emperor's mandate, a council of Italian bishops met at Aquileia, other bishops having also permission to attend. Palladius and Secundianus were condemned, and these letters have reference to the proceedings at the council. They were probably written by St. Ambrose in the name of the council, a.d. 381. 13, 14. Two letters addressed to Theodosius, the former relating the decisions of a council, probably held at Milan, on the Meletian schism at Antioch, and the latter further expressing the desire of the bishops for a council on this subject, and also on the opinions of Apollinaris. Written a.d. 381 or 382. 15. To the Bishops of Macedonia, in reply to their notification of the death of Acholius, Bishop of Thessalonica, who baptized Theodosius, and had met St. Ambrose at a council in Rome. Written a.d. 383. 16. To Anicius, on his election to succeed Acholius, whose labours and life are com- mended by St. Ambrose. Written a.d. 383. 17. 18. On the occasion of the attempt of Symmachus and the heathen senators to procure the restitution of the image and Altar of Victory in the Roman Senate-house, frustrated by St. Ambrose, a.d. 384. 19. To Vigilius, Bishop of Trent, subsequently martyred, written probably about a.d. 385. 20. To his sister, Marcellina, giving an account of the frustrated attempts of the Arian and imperial party to gain possession of a basilica at Milan, a.d. 385, 21. To the Emperor Valentinian II., declining the challenge to dispute with the Arian Auxentius before lay judges, a.d. 386. 22. To his sister Marcellina, giving an account of the finding of the bodies of SS. Gervasius and Protasius, and of the consequent miracles. Written a.d. 386. 23. To the bishops of the province of ^Emilia, on the proper date for the observance of Easter, in 387. Written a.d. 386. 24. To Valentinian 11. , with an account of St. Ambrose's second mission to Maximus on his behalf. Written probably a.d. 387. 25. 26. Inscribed the former to Studius, the second to Irenseus, but from internal evidence these appear to be the same person. It deals with the question, how far a judge being a Christian may lawfully sentence any one to death. Written probably about a.d. 388. 27-33. Addressed to Irenseus, on various questions. Written about a.d. 387. 34-36. To Orontianus, a cleric, on the Soul and other questions. Written after 386. 37, 38. To Simplicianus, who became the successor of St. Ambrose in the see of Milan, setting forth that holiness is perfect freedom. 39. To Faustinus, on the occasion of the death of a sister. Written probably after a.d. 40. To Theodosius. The Jewish synagogue at Callinicum in Mesopotamia having been destroyed by the Christians, and a meeting-house of the Valentinian heretics also burnt by the Catholics, Theodosius ordered that the bishop should rebuild the synagogue at his own expense, and the monks be punished. St. Ambrose remonstrates with the Em- peror, and it would seem, from the following letter to his sister, at first unsuccessfully. 41. To his sister Marcellina, relating the circumstances alluded to above, and telling her of his sermon before the Emperor, and of his subsequent refusal to celebrate the Eucharist, until the Emperor had promised to rescind the order. The date of the two letters is a.d. 388. 42. Reply of St. Ambrose and a synod at Milan to the notification of Pope Siricius announcing the sentence of excommunication passed upon Jovinian and his followers. 43. 44. To Horontianus, in reply to his inquiries on some points connected with the Creation. PROLEGOMENA TO ST. AMBROSE. xxi 45. To Sabinus, Bishop of Placentia, in answer to questions concerning Paradise. 46. To the same, on the subject of an Apollinarian heretic. 47-49. To the same, with books and on private matters. 50. To Chromatius, probably Bishop of Aquileia, explaining how evil men may be used to utter true prophecies. 51. To Theodosius, after the massacre at Thessalonica. Written a.d. 390. 52. A private letter to Titianus. 53. To Theodosius, to express the sorrow of St. Ambrose at the death of Valentinian II., slain by Arbogastes. 54. 55. To Eusebius, not, it would seem, the Bishop of Bologna who was present at the Council of Aquileia, but rather a lay friend to whom St. Ambrose wrote his treatise on the training of a virgin. Probably written a.d. 392 or 393. 56. To Theophilus. The troubles of the church of Antioch through the Meletian schism might have terminated on the death of Paulinus, had he not on his deathbed consecrated Evagrius as his successor in violation of the canons. Theodosius, being pressed by the Western bishops, now summoned a council at Capua, commanding Fla- vian to attend, which command he however disobeyed. The council referred the matter to Theophilus of Alexandria and the bishops of Egypt. But Flavian, as Theophilus had informed St. Ambrose, refused to submit to their decision. This is the reply of St. Ambrose advising Theophilus to summon Flavian once more, and communicate the re- sult to Pope Siricius. The letter must have been written quite at the end of a.d. 391, or the beginning of 392. 57. To Eugenius the usurper, to avoid whom St. Ambrose had left Milan, and to whose letters he had sent no reply. Written a.d. 393. 58. To Sabinus, Bishop, on the resolution of Paulinus and Therasia to forsake the world. Written probably a.d. 393. 59. To Severus, Bishop probably of Naples, telling him of James, a Persian priest, who had resolved to retire from the world into Campania, and contrasting this with his own troubles, owing to the invasion of Eugenius, a.d. 393 or 394. 60. To Paternus, against a proposed incestuous marriage. 61. To Theodosius, after his victory over Eugenius. Written a.d. 394. 62. To the same, urging him to be merciful to the followers of Eugenius. Written in the same year. 63. To the Church at Vercellse. The second division of the letters, being those which cannot be dated, begins here in the Benediction Edition. 64. To Irenseus, on the Manna. 65. To Simplicianus, on Exodus xxi v. 6. 66. To Romulus, on Aaron's making the calf of the golden earrings. 67. To Simplicianus, showing how Moses yielded to Aaron in matters relating to his priestly character. 68. To Romulus. Explanation of the text Deut xxviii. 2^. 69. To Irenseus, answering a question as to the prohibition under severe penalties in the Mosaic law, of disguising the sex by dress. 70. 71. To Horontianus, on part of the prophecy of Micah. 72. To Constantius, on the rite of circumcision. 73-76. To Irenseus. Why the law was given, and the scope of the Epistle to the Ephesians. The letter numbered 75 is plainly a continuation of 74, although inscribed to Clementianus, a difficulty similar to that about letter 26. 77, 78. To Horontianus, contrasting the condition of the Jew and the Christian. 79, 80. To Bellicius, on recovery from sickness, and on themiracle of healing the man bhnd from his birth. 81. To certain clergy, against despondency. 82. To Marcellus, concerning a lawsuit. 83. To Sisinnius, commanding him for forgiving his son, who had married without consulting him. 84. To Cynegius. 85. 86. To Siricius, with thanks for letters, and commending Priscus. xxii PROLEGOMENA TO ST. AMBROSE. 87. To Segatius [more probably Phaebadius], Bishop of Agens, and Delphinus, Bishop of Bordeaux. Polybius, mentioned in the letter, was proconsul of Africa between the years 380 and 390. 88. To Atticus. Commendation of Priscus. 89. To Alypius. Acknowledgment of letters. 90. To Antonius. On the mutual affection of himself and St. Ambrose. 91. To Candidian us, probably a fellow-bishop. A letter of affection. VI. Hymns. During the persecutions stirred up by the Arian Empress Justina, a.d. 385-6, referred to in his 20th letter, St. Ambrose and the faithful spent the whole night in the basilica, and the holy Bishop employed the people in singing psalms and hymns. A large number of hymns have been attributed to St. Ambrose, the number having by some editors been brought down to twelve, of which, however, only four are certainly his compositions. 1. Eierne rerum Conditor, referred to by St. Augustine, Retract. I. 21, and by St. Ambrose himself, Hexaem. V. 24, 88. The hymn is still in use at Lauds on Sunday. 2. Deus Creator omnium. Quoted by St. Augustine, Conf. IX. 12, 32. 3. Jam. surigit hora tertia. Also quoted by St. Augustine. 4. Veni Redemptor gentium. A Christmas hymn, quoted by Pope Celestine, a.d. 430, in a sermon against the Nestorians, preached before a synod at Rome, and also by other writers. Of other hymns one commencing, Illuminans Altissimus, is quoted by Cassiodorus as an Epiphany hymn by St. Ambrose, and the same author refers to another, Orabo mente Dominum. The Benedictine Editors admit six other hymns, but they are supported by no authority anterior to Venerable Bede. VII. Doubtful and Spurious Works. This volume cannot of course comprehend the arguments and discussions necessary for any critical examination of certain works whether doubtful or certainly spurious, but their names may be given and certain conclusions stated. 1. Five books on the Jewish war, ordinarily attributed to Hegesippus. This is a trans- lation into Latin and a condensation in part of the well-known work of Josephus. Ihm, a very thorough student of St. Ambrose, seems quite disposed to maintain after careful examination that this is the work of St. Ambrose. 2. De lege Dei. This treatise, a sort of compendium of Roman law in the fourth century, and comparison of it with the law of Moses, is ascribed, in a translation published by Mai,' to St. Ambrose, who is said to have undertaken the work at the command of Theodosius. On the authenticity, however, of this treatise there probably will always remain -much doubt. 3. Among works more or less doubtful are De Sacramentis, admitted by the Benedictines, but rejected, and apparently on sufficient grounds, by Ihm. 4. Apologia David altera. Suspected by Erasmus, Tillemont, and Ihm. 5. De lapsu Virginis consecrates. A severe castigation of a fallen virgin and of her seducer. The treatise seems to have been written by a certain Bishop of Nicetas, and a MS. at speaks of it as having been revised by St. Ambrose. 6. There are further three brief addresses ascribed by some persons to St. Ambrose, touching on the question of selling all and giving to the poor. Some of the matter is like St. Ambrose, but the same cannot be said of the diction and style. VIII. Lost Writings of St. Ambrose. 1. Expositio IsaicB prophetice, referred to by St. Augustine as well as by St. Ambrose himself 2. Liber de Sacram,ento regenerationis sive de philosophia, referred to by St. Augustine. 3. Libellus ad Pansopfiium puerum,, written a.d. 393—4, according to Paulinus in his life of St. Ambrose. 4. Libri quatuor regnorum, referred to in the introduction to the work on the Jewish war. 5. Expositio fidet, quoted by Theodoret and others as a writing of St Ambrose. * Scriptorum veterum nova Collectio, Vol. X. ON THE DUTIES OF THE CLERGY. INTRODUCTION. St. Ambrose, esteeming very highly the dignity of the ministerial office, was most desirous that the clergy of his diocese should live worthily of their high vocation, and be good and profitable examples to the people. Consequently he undertook the following treatise, setting forth the duties of the clergy, and taking as a model the treatise of Cicero, De Officiis. The writer says that his object is to impress upon those whom he has ordained the lessons which he had previously taught them. ^ Like Cicero, he treats of that which is right, becoming, or honourable [decoruni], and what is expedient \utile]\ ^ but with refer- ence not to this life but to that which is to come, teaching in the first book that which is becoming or honourable ; in the second, what is expedient ; and in the third, considering both in conjunction. In the first book he divides duties into '' ordinary," or the way of the commandments, binding upon all alike; and "perfect," which consist in following the counsels. After treating then of some elementary duties, such as those towards parents and elders, he touches upon the two principles which lead the mind, reason and appetite, and shows that what is becoming consists in thinking of good and right things, and in the subjection of the appetite to reason, 3 and supplies certain rules and examples, ending with a discussion on the four Cardinal Virtues, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance. In the second book, passing from what is becoming to what is expedient, he points out that we can only measure what is really expedient by reference to eternal life, in contradiction to the errors of heathen philosophers, and shows that what is expedient consists in the knowledge of God and in good living. Incidentally he shows that what is becoming is really that which is expedient, and ends the book with several chapters of practical considerations. In the third book he treats of duties of perfection, and lays down as a rule that in every- thing we must inquire what is expedient, not for individuals, but for many or for all. Nothing is to be striven after which is not becoming ; to this everything must give place,, not only expediency but even friendship and life itself. By many examples he then proves how holy men have sought after what was becoming, and have thereby secured what was expedient. The object of St. Ambrose in basing his treatise on the lines of that of Cicero would seem to have been the confutation of some of the false principles of heathenism, and to show how much higher Christian morality is than that of the Gentiles. The treatise was probably composed about a.d. 391. III. 6, §25. «I.9,§28. » I. 24, §106. xxiii THREE BOOKS ON THE DUTIES OF THE CLERGY. BY ST. AMBROSE, BISHOP OF MILAN. BOOK I. CHAPTER I. A Bishop's special office is to teach ; St. Ambrose him- self, however, has to learn in order that he may teach ; or rather has to teach what he has not learnt ; at any rate learning and teaching with himself must go on together. 1. I THINK I shall not seem to be taking too much on myself, if, in the midst of my children, I yield to my desire to teach, see- ing- that the master of humility himself has said : " Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord." ^ Wherein one may observe both the humility and the grace of his reverence for God. For in saying " the fear of the Lord," which seems to be common to all, he has described the chief mark of reverence for God. As, however, fear itself is the beo^inning of wis- dom and the source of blessedness — for they that fear the Lord are blessed^ — he has plainly marked himself out as the teacher for instruction in wisdom, and the guide to the attainment of blessedness. 2. We therefore, being anxious to imitate his reverence for God, and not without jus- tification in dispensing grace, deliver to you as to children those things which the Spirit of Wisdom has imparted to him, and which have been made clear to us through him, and learnt by sight and by example. For we can no longer now escape from the duty of teaching which the needs of the priest- hood have laid upon us, though we tried to avoid it : ^ "For God gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers. "4 ' Ps. xxxiv. [xxxiii.] ii. ^ j^ cxii. [cxi.] i. ' Paulinus, in his Ltye of St. Ambrose,r^\?A^?, various expedi- ents that he tried, to enable him to avoid the office to which he had been called ; e.g. how he caused torture to be applied to prisoners, contrary to his usual practice, in the hope that this might lead to his rejection. More than once, also, he endeavoured to escape the bonour by flight. * pph. iv. II. 3. I do not therefore claim for myself the glory of the apostles (for who can do this save those whom the Son of God Himself has chosen .?) ; nor the grace of the pro- phets, nor the virtue of the evangelists, nor the cautious care of the pastors. I only de- sire to attain to that care and diligence in the sacred writings, which the Apostle has placed last amongst the duties of the saints; ■ and this very thing I desire, so that, in the endeavour to teach, I may be able to learn. For one is the true Master, Who alone has not learnt, what He taught all ; but men learn before they teach, and receive from Him what they may hand on to others. 4. But not even this was the case with me. For I was carried off from the judg- ment seat, and the garb \infulis\ of office, to enter on the priesthood, ^ and began to teach you, what I myself had not yet learnt. So it happened that I began to teach before I began to learn. Therefore I must learn and teach at the same time, since I had no leisure to learn before.^ CHAPTER n. Manifold dangers are incurred by speaking; the remedy for which Scripture shows to consist in silence. 5. Now what ought we to learn before everything else, but to be silent, that we may be able to speak } lest my voice should condemn me, before that of another acquit ^ I Cor. xii. 10. 2 St. Ambrose, at the tin>e of his election to the episcopate, was a consular magistrate, and was not even baptized. The in/ula was a flock of red and white wool formed into a fillet, and worn on the head ; from which ribands hung down on either side. It was a mark of religious consecration, and so worn by the priests and ves- tal virgins. In later times it was adopted also by the emperors and magistrates as a sign of their semi-sacred character. 3 The following is found in many MSB., but not in the Benedic- tine edition *' Etqimntumlibet quisque Jl>rqfecerit nemo est qui do cere non egeat dttnt vivit.^* :d1. i\lVil3KU:5l:!.. me ; for it is written : " By thy words thou shalt be condemned. " » What need is there, then, that thou shouldest hasten to undergo the danger of condemnation by speaking, when thou canst be more safe by keeping silent ? How many have I seen to fall into sin by speaking, but scarcely one by keep- ing silent ; and so it is more difficult to know how to keep silent than how to speak. I know that most persons speak because they do not know how to keep silent. It is seldom that any one is silent even when speaking profits him nothing. He is wise, then, who knows how to keep silent. Last- ly, the Wisdom of God said : "The Lord hath given to me the tongue of learning, that I should know when it is good to speak. "^ Justly, then, is he wise who has received of the Lord to know when he ought to speak. Wherefore the Scripture says well : "A wise man will keep silence until there is opportunity." ^ 6. Therefore the saints of the Lord loved to keep silence, because they knew that a man's voice is often the utterance of sin, and a man's speech is the beginning of human error. Lastly, the Saint of the Lord said : **I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I offend not in my tongue. " 4 For he knew and had read that it was a mark of the divine protection for a man to be hid from the scourge of his own tongue, s and the witness of his own conscience. We are chastised by the silent reproaches of our thoughts, and by the judgment of con- science. We are chastised also by the lash of our own voice, when we say things whereby our soul is mortally injured, and our mind is sorely wounded. But who is there that has his heart clean from the im- purities of sin, and does not offend in his tongue.? And so, as he saw there was no one who could keep his mouth free from evil speaking, he laid upon himself the law of innocency by a rule of silence, with a view to avoiding by silence that fault which he could with difficulty escape in speaking. 7. Let us hearken, then, to the master of precaution : "I said, I will take heed to my ways ; '"' that is, ''I said to myself: in the silent biddings of my thoughts, I have en- joined upon myself, that I should take heed to my ways." Some ways there are which we ought to follow ; others as to which we ought to take heed. We must follow the ways of the Lord, and take heed to our own ways, lest they lead us into sin. One can 1 S. Matt. xii. 37. ♦ P$, xxxix. [xxxviii.] 2 Is. 1. 4 [LXX.]. 3 Ecclus. XX. 7. ^ Job V. 21. take heed if one is not hasty in speaking. The law says : " Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God."^ It said not: ''Speak," but **Hear." Eve fell because she said to the man what she had not heard from the Lord her God. The first word from God says to thee : Hear ! If thou hearest, take heed to thy ways ; and if thou hast fallen, quickly amend thy way. For: "Wherein does a young man amend his way ; except in taking heed to the word of the Lord.?"^ Be silent therefore first of all, and hearken, that thou fail not in thy tongue. 8. It is a great evil that a man should be condemned by his own mouth. Truly, if each one shall give account for an idle word, 2 how much more for words of im- purity and shame? For words uttered hastily are far worse than idle words. If, therefore, an account is demanded for an idle word, how much more will punishment be exacted for impious language ? CHAPTER III. Silence should not remain unbroken, nor should it arise from idleness. How heart and mouth must be guarded against inordinate affections. 9. What then ? Ought we to be dumb ? Certainly not. For: "there is a time to keep silence and a time to speak." 4 If, then, we are to give account for an idle word, let us take care that we do not have to give it also for an idle silence. For there is also an active silence, such as Susanna's was, who did more by keeping silence than if she had spoken. For in keeping silence before men she spoke to God, and found no greater proof of her chastity than silence. Her conscience spoke where no word was heard, and she sought no judgment for herself at the hands of men, for she had the witness of the Lord. She therefore desired to be acquitted by Him, Who she knew could not be deceived in any way.s Yea, the Lord Himself in the Gospel worked out in silence the salvation of men. ^ David rightly there- fore enjoined on himself not constant silence, but watchfulness. ID. Let us then guard our hearts, let us guard our mouths. Both have been written about. In this place we are bidden to take heed to our mouth ; in another place thou art told: ''Keep thy heart with all dili- gence." 7 If David took heed, wilt thou not * Deut. vi. 4. •• Eccles. iii. 7. ^ Prov. iv. 23. ' Ps. cxix. [cxviii. ] 9. » SU8. V. 35. ' S. Matt. xii. 36. « S. Matt. xxvi. 63. DUTIES OF THE CLERGY.— BOOK I. take heed? If Isaiah had unclean lips — who said: "Woe is me, for I am undone, for I am a man, and have unclean Hps " ^ — if a prophet of the Lord had unclean lips, how shall we have them clean ? 11. But for whom was it written, unless it was for each one of us : " Hedge thy pos- session about with thorns, and bind up thy silver and gold, and make a door and a bar for thy mouth, and a yoke and a balance for thy words " ? ^ Thy possession is thy mind, thy gold thy heart, thy silver thy speech : "The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in the fire." ^ A good mind is also a good possession. And, further, a pure inner life is a valuable possession. Hedge in, then, this possession of thine, en- close it with thought, guard it with thorns, that is, with pious care, lest the tierce pas- sions of the flesh should rush upon it and lead it captive, lest strong emotions should assault it, and, overstepping their bounds, carry off its vintage. Guard thy inner self. Do not neglect or contemn it as though it were worthless, for it is a valuable posses- sion ; truly valuable indeed, for its fruit is not perishable and only for a time, but is lasting and of use for eternal salvation. Cultivate, therefore, thy possession, and let it be thy tilling ground 12. Bind up thy words that they run not riot, and grow wanton, and gather up sins for themselves in too much talking. Let them be rather confined, and held back within their own banks. An overflowing river quickly gathers mud. Bind up also thy meaning ; let it not be left slack and unchecked, lest it be said of thee : "There is no healing balsam, nor oil, nor bandage to apply. "4 Sobriety of mind has its reins, whereby it is directed and guided. 13. Let there be a door to thy mouth, that it may be shut when need arises, and let it be carefully barred, that none may rouse thy voice to anger, and thou pay back abuse with abuse. Thou hast heard it read to-day: "Be ye angry and sin not."5 Therefore although we are angry (this aris- ing from the motions of our nature, not of our will), let us not utter with our mouth one evil word, lest we fall into sin ; but let there be a yoke and a balance to thy words, that is, humility and moderation, that thy tongue may be subject to thy mind. Let it be held in check with a tight rein ; let it have its own means of restraint, whereby it can be recalled to moderation : let it utter ' Isa. vi. 5. * Ecclus. xxviii. 24, 25. * l54. i. 6 [LXX.]. ° Ps. iv. 4. 8 Ps. xji. [xi.] 6. words tried by the scales of justice, that there may be seriousness in our meaning, weight in our speech, and due measure in our words. CHAPTER IV. The same care must be taken that our speech proceed not from evil passions, but from good motives ; for here it is that the devil is especially on the watch to catch us. 14. If any one takes heed to this, he will be mild, gentle, modest. For in guarding his mouth, and restraining his tongue, and in not speaking before examining, ponder- ing, and weighing his words — as to whether this should be said, that should be answered, or whether it be a suitable time for this remark — he certainly is practising modesty, gentleness, patience. So he will not burst out into speech through displeasure or anger, nor give sign of any passion in his words, nor proclaim that the flames of lust are burning in his language, or that the in- centives of wrath are present in what he says. Let him act thus for fear that his words, which ought to grace his inner life, should at the last plainly show and prove that there is some vice in his morals. 15. For then especially does the enemy lay his plans, when he sees passions engen- dered in us ; then he supplies tinder ; then he lays snares. Wherefore the prophet says not without cause, as we heard read to-day : "Surely He hath delivered me from the snare of the hunter and from the hard word." ^ Symmachus^ said this means "the word of provocation ; " others " the word that brings disquiet." The snare of the enemy is our speech — but that itself is also just as much an enemy to us. Too often we say some- thing that our foe takes hold of, and where- by he wounds us as though by our own sword. How far better it is to perish by the sword of others than by our own ! 16. Accordingly the enemy tests our arms and clashes together his weapons. If he sees that I am disturbed, he implants the points of his darts, so as to raise a crop of quarrels. If I utter an unseemly word, he sets his snare. Then he puts before me the opportunity for revenge as a bait, so that in desiring to be revenged, I may put myself in the snare, and draw the death-knot tight for myself. If any one feels this enemy is 1 Ps. xc. 3 [LXX.]. 2 Symmachus, said to have been an Ebionite, lived c. 193-2 11. He translated the Old Testament into Greek. This was one of the versions Origen made use of in his Hexapia edition of the Bible. ST. AMBROSE. near, he oug-ht to give greater heed to his mouth, lest he make room for the enemy ; but not many see him. CHAPTER V. We must guard also against a visible enemy when he incites us by silence ; by the help of which alone we can escape from those greater than ourselves, and maintain that humility which we must display towards all. 17. But we must also guard against him who can be seen, and who provokes us, and spurs us on, and exasperates us, and supplies what will excite us to licentiousness or lust. If, then, any one reviles us, irritates, stirs us up to violence, tries to make us quarrel ; let us keep silence, let us not be ashamed to become dumb. For he who irritates us and does us an injury is com- mitting sin, and wishes us to become like himself. 18. Certainly if thou art silent, and hidest thy feelings, he is wont to say : " Why are you silent.^ Speak if you dare ; but you dare not, you are dumb, I have made you speech- less." If thou art silent, he is the more excited. He thinks himself beaten, laughed at, little thought of, and ridiculed. If thou answerest, he thinks he has become the victor, because he has found one like him- self. For if thou art silent, men will say : **That man has been abusive, but this one held him in contempt." If thou return the abuse, they will say: "Both have been abusive.'' Both will be condemned, neither will be acquitted. Therefore it is his object to irritate, so that I may speak and act as he does. But it is the duty of a just man to hide his feelings and say nothing, to preserve the fruit of a good conscience, to trust himself rather to the judgment of good men than to the insolence of a calumniator, and to be satisfied with the stability of his own character. For that is: '*To keep silence even from good words ; " ^ since one who has a good conscience ought not to be troubled by false words, nor ought he to make more of another's abuse than of the witness of his own heart. 19. So, then, let a man guard also his humi- lity. If, however, he is unwilling to appear too humble, he thinks as follows, and says within himself: "Am I to allow this man to despise me, and say such things to my face against me, as though I could not open my mouth before him ? Why should I not also ^ F§. xxxix. [xxxviii.] ^. CHAPTER VI. say something whereby I can grieve him? Am I to let him do me wrong, as though I were not a man, and as though I could not avenge myself? Is he to bring charges against me as though I could not bring to- gether worse ones against him ?" 20. Whoever speaks like this is not gentle and humble, nor is he without temptation. The tempter stirs him up, and himself puts such thoughts in his heart. Often and often, too, the evil spirit employs another person, and gets him to say such things to him ; but do thou set thy foot firm on the rock. Although a slave should abuse, let the just man be silent, and if a weak man utter in- sults, let him be silent, and if a poor man should make accusations, let him not answer. These are the weapons of the just man, so that he may conquer by giving way, as those skilled in throwing the javelin are wont to conquer by giving way, and in flight to wound their pursuers with severer blows. i In this matter we must imitate David's silence and humility, so as not even to seem deserving of harm. 21. What need is there to be troubled when we hear abuse ? Why do we not imitate him who says : " I was dumb and humbled myself, and kept silence even from good words '' ? ^ Or did David only say this, and not act up to it ? No, he also acted up to it. For when Shimei the son of Cera reviled him, David was silent ; and although he was surrounded with armed men he did not return the abuse, nor sought revenge : nay, even when the son of Zeruiah spoke to him, because he wished to take vengeance on him, David did not permit it. ^ He went on as though dumb, and humbled ; he went on in silence ; nor was he disturbed, although called a bloody man, for he was conscious of his own gentleness. He therefore was not disturbed by insults, for he had full knowledge of his own good works. 22. He, then, who is quickly roused by wrong m^akes himself seem deserving ot insult, even whilst he wishes to be shown not to deserve it. He who despises wrongs is better off than he who grieves over them. For he who despises them looks down on them, as though he feels them not ; but he who grieves over them is tormented, just as though he actually felt them. Ps. xxxix. 2 [xxxviii. 2]. * i Sara. [2 Kings] xvi. 6 fL DUTIES OF THE CLERGY.— BOOK I. CHAPTER VH. How admirably Ps. xxxix. [xxxviii.] takes the place of an introduction. Incited thereto by this psalm the saint determines to write on duties. He does this with more reason even than Cicero, who wrote on this subject to his son. How, further, this is so. 23. Not without thought did I make use of the beginning of this psalm, in writing to you, mV children. For this psalm which the Prophet David gave to Jeduthun to sing, ' I urge you to regard, being delighted my- self with its depth of meaning and the ex- cellency of its maxims. For we have learnt in those words we have just shortly touched upon, that both patience in keeping silence and the duty of awaiting a fit time for speaking are taught in this psalm, as well as contempt of riches in the follow- ing verses, which things are the chief groundwork of virtues. Whilst, therefore, meditating on this psalm, it has come to my mind to write "on the Duties." 24. Although some philosophers have written on this subject, — Pansetius,^' for instance, and his son .amongst the Greek, Cicero amongst the Latin, writers — I did not think it foreign to my office to write also myself. And as Cicero wrote for the in- struction of his son, 3 so I, too, write to teach you, my children. For I love you, whom I have begotten in the Gospel, no less than if you were my own true sons. For nature does not make us love more ardently than grace. We certainly ought to love those who we think will be with us for evermore than those who will be with us in this world only. These often are born unworthy of their race, so as to bring disgrace on their father ; but you we chose beforehand, to love. They are loved naturally, of necessity, which is not a sufficiently suitable and con- stant teacher to implant a lasting love. But ye are loved on the ground of our deliberate choice, whereby a great feeling of affection is combined with the strength of our love : thus one tests what one loves and loves what one has chosen. CHAPTER Vni. The word " Duty " has been often used both by philo- sophers and in the holy Scriptures ; from whence it is derived. 25. Since, therefore, the person concerned ^ This psalm in the Hebrew is inscribed to Jeduthun, one of the three leading musicians in the temple services. ■^ A Stoic philosopher who lived and taught at Athens, c. B.C. 120. His chief work was a treatise TrepI tou Ka6riKovTo<>, which Cicero himself afterward used as the groundwork of his own book de Officiis. 3 cic. de Off. I. 2. is one fit to write on the Duties, let us see whether the subject itself stands on the same ground, and whether this word is suitable only to the schools of the philoso- phers, or is also to be found in the sacred Scriptures. Beautifully has the Holy Spirit, as it happens, brought before us a passage in reading the Gospel to-day, as. though He would urge us to write ; whereby we are confirmed in our view, that the word offi- cium, "duty," may also be used with us. For when Zacharias the priest was struck dumb in the temple, and could not speak, it is said; "And it came to pass that as soon as the days of his duty [officii] were ac- complished, he departed to his own house. '" ' We read, therefore, that the word officium, " duty," can be used by us. 26.^ And this is not inconsistent with reason, since we consider that the word officium (duty) is derived from efficere (to effect), and is formed with the change of one letter for the sake of euphony ; or at any rate that you should do those things which injure [officiant] no one, but benefit all. CHAPTER IX. A duty is to be chosen from what is virtuous, and from what is useful, and also from the comparison of the two, one with the other; but nothing is recog- nized by Christians as virtuous or useful which is not helpful to the future life. This treatise on duty, therefore, will not be superfluous. 27. The philosophers considered that duties^ were derived from what is virtuous and what is useful, and that from these two one should choose the better. Then, they say, it may happen that two virtuous or two useful things will clash together, and the question is, which is the more virtuous, and which the more useful } First, therefore, "duty" is divided into three sections: what is virtuous, what is useful, and what is the better of two. Then, again, these three are divided into five classes ; that is, two that are virtuous, two that are useful, and, lastly, the right judgment as to the choice between them. The first they say has to do with the moral dignity and in- tegrity of life ; the second with the con- ^ Luke i. 23. The Vulgate has officii^ the Greek text reads : T^? AetTOup-yio?. 2 In this section it is impossible to give the point in a translation, but the passage does not affect the argument. The text runs as follows : " Nee ratio ipsa abhorret, qtiandoquidem offcium ab eff- ciendo dictum putamiis, quasi ejfficiunt : sed propter decorem ser- monis una inttnutata litera, officium nuncupari, vel certe, ut ea ag-as quee nulli officiant, prosint omnibus." a Cic. de Off. I. 3, § 9. ST. AMBROSE. veniences of life, with wealth, resources, opportunities ; whilst a right judgment must underlie the choice of any of them. This is what the philosophers say. ' 28. But we measure nothing at all but that which is fitting and virtuous, and that by the rule of things future rather than of things present ; and we state nothing to be useful but what will help us to the bless- ing of eternal life ; certainly not that which will help us enjoy merely the present time. Nor do we recognize any advantages in opportunities and in the wealth of earthly goods, but consider them as disadvantages if not put aside, and to be looked on as a burden, when we have them, rather than as a loss when expended. 29. This work of ours, therefore, is not superfluous, seeing that we and they re- gard duty in quite different ways. They reckon the advantages of this life among the good things, we reckon them among the evil things ; for he who receives good things here, as the rich man in the parable, is tor- mented there ; and Lazarus, who endured evil things here, there found comfort. ^ Lastly, those who do not read their writings may read ours if they will — if, that is, they do not require great adornment of language or a skilfully-treated subject, but are satis- fied with the simple charm of the subject itself. CHAPTER X. What is seemly is often found in the sacred writings long before it appears in the books of the philoso- phers. Pythagoras borrowed the law of his silence from David. David's rule, however, is the best, for our first duty is to have due measure in speaking." 30. We are instructed and taught that "what is seemly "3 is put in our Scriptures in the first place. (In Greek it is called Ttpi'ov.) For we read: ''A Hymn be- seems Thee, O God, in Sion," In Greek this is : loiTtpiizet v/jlvo? 6 ^so? iv Itw'^A And the Apostle says : '* Speak the things which become sound doctrine. "5 And elsewhere: " For it beseemed Him through Whom are all things and for Whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. " ^ 31. Was Panaetius or Aristotle, who also wrote on duty," earlier than David.? Why, Pythagoras himself, who lived before the 1 Gc. de Off. I. 3. * Ps. Ixv. [Ixiv.] I. 2 S. Luke xvi. 25. 5 Tit. ii. I. 3 Cic.